Chapter 3
Sentence Correction and Grammar
Kathmandu University Entrance past exam questions
Past questions and answers
5 questions set from this chapter. Most repeated first.
- KUSOM Information Bulletin for the KUUMAT and Sample Test Questions
Improve the underlined part of the sentence. Beneath each sentence are five ways of phrasing the underlined material. Choice (a) repeats the original phrasing; the other four choices are different. If you think the original phrasing produces a better sentence than any of the alternatives, select choice (a); if not, select one of the other choices. Your selection should result in the most effective sentence, clear and precise, without awkwardness or ambiguity.
Laura Southworth, a children's author who is beginning to attract the notice of critics and librarians alike, wrote and illustrated her first story Tika and she was only seven years old then.
(a) and she was only seven years old then
(b) at age seven years old only
(c) when she was only seven years old
(d) upon the reaching of only seven years
(e) at the time when she was only seven
Answer
(c) when she was only seven years old
"When she was only seven years old" cleanly links the writing of Tika to her age. The original "and she was only seven years old then" is a wordy, loosely joined clause; (b), (d) and (e) are awkward or unidiomatic ("at age seven years old only", "upon the reaching of only seven years", "at the time when she was only seven").
Answer checked by Claude Sonnet · Oct 21, 2026
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- KUSOM Information Bulletin for the KUUMAT and Sample Test Questions
Improve the underlined part of the sentence. Beneath each sentence are five ways of phrasing the underlined material. Choice (a) repeats the original phrasing; the other four choices are different. If you think the original phrasing produces a better sentence than any of the alternatives, select choice (a); if not, select one of the other choices. Your selection should result in the most effective sentence, clear and precise, without awkwardness or ambiguity.
Many building technologies are changing significantly in the last two thousand years, but today's concrete is still similar to the concrete of Roman times.
(a) are changing
(b) have changed
(c) had changed
(d) are going to change
(e) change
Answer
(b) have changed
"In the last two thousand years" is a period continuing up to the present, so the present perfect "have changed" is needed. "Are changing" and "change" do not suit the time frame, "had changed" is past perfect with no past reference point, and "are going to change" refers to the future.
Answer checked by Claude Sonnet · Oct 21, 2026
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- KUSOM Information Bulletin for the KUUMAT and Sample Test Questions
Improve the underlined part of the sentence. Beneath each sentence are five ways of phrasing the underlined material. Choice (a) repeats the original phrasing; the other four choices are different. If you think the original phrasing produces a better sentence than any of the alternatives, select choice (a); if not, select one of the other choices. Your selection should result in the most effective sentence, clear and precise, without awkwardness or ambiguity.
The video class that meets on Thursdays makes use of the innovative software MAYA, which enables students to design and build a virtual stage set, a home, or even a city in three dimensions.
(a) makes use of the innovative software MAYA, which enables students to design and build
(b) using the innovative software MAYA and enabling students to design and build
(c) besides making use of the innovative software MAYA, enables students to design and build
(d) because it makes use of the innovative software MAYA, it enables students to design and build
(e) not only making use of the innovative software MAYA, but also enabling students in the design and building of
Answer
(a) makes use of the innovative software MAYA, which enables students to design and build
The original is correct: the verb "makes" agrees with "class", and the "which" clause neatly explains what the software does. The alternatives leave the sentence without a proper main verb (b), or are ungrammatical, illogical or faulty in parallelism (c), (d), (e).
Answer checked by Claude Sonnet · Oct 21, 2026
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- KUSOM Information Bulletin for the KUUMAT and Sample Test Questions
Identify the error. Each sentence contains either a single error or no error at all. No sentence contains more than one error. The error, if there is one, is underlined and lettered. If the sentence contains an error, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct. If the sentence is correct, select choice (e). Follow the requirements of standard written English.
Not everyone (a) would agree that Lawrence Olivier's performance in Henry V (b) was superior (c) to Kenneth (d) Branagh. (e) No error
(a) would agree
(b) was
(c) to
(d) Branagh
(e) No error
Answer
(d) Branagh
The sentence compares Olivier's performance with Kenneth Branagh, which is an illogical comparison of a performance with a person. It should compare performance with performance: "superior to Kenneth Branagh's". So (d) must change.
Answer checked by Claude Sonnet · Oct 21, 2026
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- KUSOM Information Bulletin for the KUUMAT and Sample Test Questions
Identify the error. Each sentence contains either a single error or no error at all. No sentence contains more than one error. The error, if there is one, is underlined and lettered. If the sentence contains an error, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct. If the sentence is correct, select choice (e). Follow the requirements of standard written English.
There (a) is many benefits to (b) biking; it is both a rigorous (c) form of exercise and an environmentally sustainable conscious mode of (d) transportation. (e) No error
(a) is
(b) biking
(c) form
(d) transportation
(e) No error
Answer
(a) is
The subject "benefits" is plural, and in "There is many benefits" the verb must agree with it: "There are many benefits to biking". So (a) must be changed.
Answer checked by Claude Sonnet · Oct 21, 2026
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Questions from KUSOM Information Bulletin for the KUUMAT and Sample Test Questions (Official KUSOM sample test questions (Sections 2 to 5), year not stated; questions that rely on a figure and cannot be restated in words are omitted). Answers are written for this site; check them against your class notes.